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Safenetting : June Phishing / Spam

We’ve been away from this column for a few weeks, and yesterday was faced with three-hundred new items we would like to cover! Whew … here are just a few from this week’s cache * Explosive Growth in Infected Emails; Spam and Phishing On The Rise * Flame espionage malware issues self-destruct command * New phishing scam targets Dept. of Defense personnel * Amazon becomes the third victim of hackers this week * ProofPoint Tool Targets Spear Phishers * Flame malware makers send ‘suicide’ code * Malware, Spam Growth Explodes in May
and more . . .

ProofPoint Tool Targets Spear Phishers

Cybercriminals are increasingly launching drone-like attacks on companies, sending malicious e-mails tailored to specific executives or their underlings to go after high-value digital assets in the corporate network. ProofPoint on Thursday unveiled a cloud service called Targeted Attack Protection (TAP) that defends against some forms of so-called advanced persistent threats (APTs). The service is aimed at intercepting hacker-sent e-mails that contain links to malicious websites that attempt to download malware or steal the victim’s credentials. Full story : PCWorld

New phishing scam targets Dept. of Defense personnel

The Internal Revenue Service warns taxpayers that they should be on the lookout for a new, email-based phishing scam now circulating that targets Department of Defense military members, retirees and civilian employees. The email appears to come from Defense Finance and Accounting Services and displays a .mil email address. The email states that those receiving disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs may be able to obtain additional funds from the IRS. Full story : MyNews3

Report Finds Explosive Growth in Infected Emails; Spam and Phishing On The Rise

Once again, it seems we are all doomed to succumb to online malware as the numbers always seem to keep rising. According to a recent study, the above statement remains true. German email security provider, eleven released their E-Mail Security Report for June 2012. The report found that the months of April and May 2012 were shaped by a significant increase in malware, phishing and spam. Full story : Los Angeles Wave Newspapers

Amazon becomes the third victim of hackers this week

After LinkedIn and eHarmony announced this week that its users’ accounts had been compromised, Amazon said its members have also become subjected to phishing scams. People have been receiving ‘digital-no-reply@amazon.com’ emails with subject headings stating that the receiver’s order has been complete and that they were successfully charged varying amounts that are often over $50. Full story : Los Angeles Wave Newspapers

Flame malware makers send ‘suicide’ code

The creators of the Flame malware have sent a “suicide” command that removes it from some infected computers. Security firm Symantec caught the command using booby-trapped computers set up to watch Flame’s actions. Flame came to light after the UN’s telecoms body asked for help with identifying a virus found stealing data from many PCs in the Middle East. Full story : BBC News

Flame espionage malware issues self-destruct command

The Flame espionage malware that infected Iranian computers has initiated a self-destruct command that removes all traces of itself on infected machines that receive the instruction, researchers said. The 20-megabyte piece of malware already had a self-destruct module known as SUICIDE that removed all files and folders associated with Flame, but the purging command observed by Symantec researchers instead relied on a file called browse23.ocx that did much the same thing. The removal tool, which researchers from Kaspersky Lab briefly documented last month, was downloaded from a command and control server still under the control of Flame attackers to several machines in a honeypot. White hats monitored the activities of the sophisticated malware, which is also known as Flamer and sKyWIper. Full story : Ars Technica

Malware, Spam Growth Explodes in May

The Olympic games in London and fake offers for luxury goods all contributed to a big jump in malware in spam between April and May. April and May were significant months for malware growth and increased spam and phishing attacks, as the volume of known malware swelled by more than a factor of 10, growing by 927.4 percent from April to May, according to German email security provider Eleven’s “E-Mail Security Report” for June 2012. The volume of spam emails was also back on the rise, while virus outbreaks more than tripled, up by 251.6 percent, according to the report. Full story : eWeek